McLaren Mercedes confident of bouncing back in Chinese GP

The McLaren Mercedes Formula One Team are fully focused on regaining their constructors’ and drivers’ championship crowns.

Following on from a disappointing Australian GP result, with Oscar Piastri crashing on the installation lap and champion Lando Norris coming home fifth, there is certainly a point to prove.

But with the new hybrid regulations shaking things up as never seen before in the history of the sport, few can predict what will happen.

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It’s a factor not lost on Neil Houldey, McLaren’s Technical Director in Applied Engineering.

“Last weekend’s first race of the season in Australia provided the team with further valuable information as we continue our journey of development and learning under the new regulations,” commented Houldey in his team’s China press release.

“We understand that there is still a lot to do as we continue to work hard to further exploit the performance of the power unit while also putting additional focus on areas such as improving grip in corners.”

The Shanghai Circuit will offer different challenges from those presented at Albert Park and is also the first Sprint Race weekend of the season.

It means that McLaren can wipe the slate clean and start afresh in the defence of their titles.

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“We need to work hard to understand where we’re losing pace to the front runners, as well as understanding how we can approach the weekend better,” commented Norris after the Australian GP.

“I’ve got full confidence in my team to be able to do that. It’s looking like it’s going to be a long, tough season, but we’re in a reasonable place to start from, and we’ll do the best we can.”

The Chinese Grand Prix begins a leg of races with Bahrain and Saudi Arabia still in doubt.

“The next few races will continue to see this focus in place as we look to extract the maximum performance from our current configuration,” added Houldey.

“There is a lot of effort by the team, both trackside and in Woking, to develop the car, but we are aware that it will take a few more races to be in a position to bring any major upgrades to track.

“Going into this weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix, we have collectively taken all of our learnings from Melbourne and regrouped as a team – to make sure that we deliver as much performance as possible to put the team in a strong competitive position for opportunities in both Saturday’s Sprint race and Sunday’s Grand Prix.”

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